Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins is a religious building under construction in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. When finished it will be used by the Heathen organization

Ásatrúarfélagið (, ''Ásatrú Fellowship''), also known simply as , is an Icelandic religious organisation of Heathenry (new religious movement), heathenry (in Iceland also called , " faith"). It was founded on the first day of summer (Iceland), first day of s ...

for religious ceremonies, concerts, exhibitions and administrative work. It is Iceland's first major hof to the

Norse gods Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a Medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nors ...

since the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

. It is located on the southern slope of the hill Öskjuhlíð, close to

Reykjavík University Reykjavík University (RU; , , ) is the largest private university in Iceland with approximately 3,300 students. It is Charter school, chartered by the Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Icelandic Industries, and the Confederation of Icelandi ...

. The project has been under development since 2005, but has been delayed several times because of the

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and problems with the design. It has been under construction since 2015. As of 2022, the building's office part was operational but the social part was still unfinished.

History

Development

In 2005,

decided to sell its house in

which it had acquired in 1998. The real-estate value had at this point increased so much that the organization's long-time goal of building a hof in Reykjavík for its activities had become a realistic project. Ásatrúarfélagið originally applied for a plot of land for a religious building in

Elliðaár The rivers Elliðaár (, "Elliði's rivers") are situated in the Reykjavík area in the south-west of Iceland. Two small rivers have their source in the volcanic mountain range of ''Bláfjöll'' and stream down to Elliðavatn lake at the eastern s ...

dalur. Reykjavík's mayor

Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir (; born 31 December 1954) is an Icelandic politician from the Social Democratic Alliance who has served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (2007–2009) and leader of the Alliance (2005–2009). She served as rep ...

instead suggested a location on the hill Öskjuhlíð, which Ásatrúarfélagið accepted in 2006. However, this plot turned out to be within the safety zone of the

Reykjavík Airport Reykjavík Airport ( Icelandic: ''Reykjavíkurflugvöllur'') is the main domestic airport serving Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. The airport is located about from the city centre. It is the domestic hub of Icelandair flights and has two r ...

, so a new location nearby, on the southern slope of the same hill, was assigned in 2008. Ásatrúarfélagið and its ''

allsherjargoði Allsherjargoði (, ''All-People Chieftain''; plural ''-goðar'' ) was an office in the Icelandic Commonwealth, held by the goði who held the ''goðorð'' of the descendants of Ingólfr Arnarson, the first settler of Iceland. The role of the ''all ...

Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson (; born 23 April 1958), also known as HÖH, is a musician, an art director, and '' allsherjargoði'' (''chief goði'') of Ásatrúarfélagið ("the Ásatrú Association"). Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson was a pioneer in the use ...

were especially pleased by the proximity between this location and the

. The land was donated by the city and the construction funds were provided by Ásatrúarfélagið. On 1 September 2008, five architectural firms submitted their respective proposals for the building's design to Ásatrúarfélagið's building committee. When the building still was on a planning stage, the 2008 Icelandic banking collapse took place, which resulted in substantial financial losses for Ásatrúarfélagið, and the hof project was delayed by several years. In January 2015, Magnús Jensson's design was revealed. It was reported that construction was soon to begin. The building was reported to have a construction cost of 130 million

Icelandic króna The króna () or krona (sometimes called Icelandic crown; currency sign, sign: kr; ISO 4217, code: ISK) is the currency of Iceland. One króna was formerly divided into 100 eyrir (plural "aurar"). Name Like the other Nordic countries, Nordic ...

Construction

Construction officially broke ground at the solar eclipse of 20 March 2015. The building was then projected to be finished in the late summer of 2016. However, the complicated design has caused technical problems and further delays. Immediately there were problems with the preparation of the site, which had the effect that actual construction did not begin until 2017. In December 2017 it was expected to be finished by the end of 2018. In February 2019, Hilmar Örn said that the most optimistic expectation was for the building to be finished in December 2019, although he hoped that parts would be ready for active use already in the autumn that year. He explained that it was the dome that caused problems and that the project had gone severely over its original budget, with the costs now estimated at 270 million krónas. He also revealed that Ásatrúarfélagið had looked at different models for potentially

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

parts of the costs, although stressed that the funders in that case must receive something in return for their money. He explained that it was crucial for the organization's dignity to not take any bank loan. In June 2019, Hilmar Örn said that the building would be constructed in stages. The office part would become operational first, but even if the crowdfunding campaign was a success, the whole project could take two years to finish. In February 2020, Hilmar Örn expected the dome to be finished in 2022. The projected total cost was 300 million krónas. The deputy ''allsherjargoði'' Jóhanna G. Harðardóttir said in July 2021 that construction had proceeded well during the last year and the building should be able to host Ásatrúarfélagið's administrative work in the autumn of 2021. By April 2022, Ásatrúarfélagið had moved into the office part and the social part was close to being finished. In July 2023, Hilmar Örn said there was no hurry to finish the dome and it will be built whenever the organization can afford materials without taking a loan. A plan to buy the steel frame for the dome from China had fallen apart because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Architecture and design

Hof Ásatrúarfélagsins was designed by the Icelandic architect and Ásatrúarfélagið member Magnús Jensson. Jensson wanted the building to look timeless and neither be a

pastiche nor specifically modern. The aim was to represent a close relationship to earth, sky and sun. The design incorporates

numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

and

geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...

considered sacred by Ásatrúarfélagið, such as the numbers nine, 432,000 and the

golden ratio In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their summation, sum to the larger of the two quantities. Expressed algebraically, for quantities and with , is in a golden ratio to if \fr ...

. The building is made of concrete and local wood. The main part will have an area of and hold a maximum of 250 people. It has an oval shape and an inverted dome on top; the intention is to let in sunlight which changes on a daily and seasonal basis. It is built into the side of the hill and uses natural rock as one of its walls, allowing water to flow down the stone wall and be collected in pools. Next to the building is a memorial stone for

Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson (4 July 1924 – 23 December 1993) was an Icelandic religious leader and singer of rímur who was instrumental in gaining the Icelandic government's recognition of pre-Christian Heathenry (new religious movement), Hea ...

, Ásatrúarfélagið's first ''allsherjargoði''. The monument was dedicated on 22 April 2010 with a ceremony that paid tribute to the local ''

landvættir Landvættir ("land spirits" or "land wights") are spirits of the land in Old Nordic religion, later Scandinavian folklore, folk belief and modern Heathenry. They are closely associated with specific locations and their wellbeing is presented as be ...

'' and several gods. The design allows the building to be expanded in the future. According to Hilmar Örn, there are preliminary plans for an expansion that would provide a facility for international research on subjects related to mythology.

Name

The name used in the media and promotional material, "''hof Ásatrúarfélagsins''", is descriptive and means "The hall of the ōs faith association" or "The temple of the ōs faith association". The association has asked the public for proposals for the building's official name, but the final decision will be taken shortly before the consecration.

References

External links

The architect's website about the building
{{Germanic pagan practices Modern paganism in Iceland Germanic neopaganism Buildings and structures under construction Buildings and structures in Reykjavík Modern pagan buildings Religious buildings and structures with domes Religious buildings and structures in Iceland